Frank Worth's photos of Hollywood legends of the '40s and '50s are on Display at Fine Art Liaisons
By MARIE FOWLER – It’s a fairy tale world of red-checkered tablecloths, glamorous beaded evening bags, fast cars, and long cigarette holders. Bogie and Way are a part of the nostalgic Worth Exposing Hollywood exhibition at the Fine Art Liaisons Gallery in Bryn Mawr, as are Ronald Reagan and starlet Nancy Davis, the Rat. Pack and- the Marx Brothers. From the set of Giant, there are fetching images of Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and the star-crossed James Dean. Hollywood legends Clark Gable, Grace Kelly, Jayne Mansfield, Ava Gardner and Sammy Davis Jr. frolic in candid pictures snapped by the late Frank Worth (1923-2000). Brooklyn native Worth got his start as a high school senior when the International – News Service in New York City hired him to snap photos of the stars as they stepped off the California Express train at Grand Central Station. Later, Worth’s employers- sent him to California, and the stars became his friends. When he wasn’t “on the job,” his shutter was still clicking, recording private moments among very public figures. Gallery owner Karen Godwin confides that the photographer, in later years, even admitted to his own liaison — with Marilyn Monroe. “It’s surprising how much people relate to them,” Godwin says in awe, looking at the legends on her gallery walls. “But in the 1940s and ’50s, they were the American royalty.” A California photographer approached Fine Art Liaisons with the concept, but until she became immersed in the more than 10,000 negatives Worth left behind as a sort of photographic diary of his life, Godwin didn’t realize how “raw, so to speak, how intimate,” the images were.
Godwin hand-picked the 40-odd black-and-whit silver gelatin images on view. Most have never been printed before. There are very unguarded moments — from James Dean his toilette (literally) to an annoyed starlet captured forever stuffing a hamburger into he mouth. According to Godwin, Worth got an earful for snapping that one! A stroll around the gallery quickly brings the magic of Hollywood’s glamour days alive. The silver gelatin prints are available as limited edition prints, and if your favorite star is not on vies Godwin may be able to order it directly from photographer’s estate. . Fine Art Liaisons, at 916 W. Lancaster Ave. in 131) Mawr, may be reached by telephone at 610-520-220 or on the Web at www.fineartliaisons.com. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. until p.m. More of Worth Hollywood photos may b seen at Fine Art Liaison: Wayne branch, in the back The Antique Store at 161 W Lancaster Ave. (610-687-1900). Yet another auxiliary show is on view at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute, 824 V Lancaster (610-527-4001 www.BrynMawrFilm.org Part of the proceeds of the: sale of Worth’s work will benefit the Film Institute.
Fowler, Marie, “Images from Tinseltown”, Main Line Times, October 26, 2006.
